


Sorted Out

by ami_ven



Series: The Dawn of Time [4]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Getting Together, Paternoster Gang, The Doctor Being the Doctor (Doctor Who)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21557956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: A large blue box appears in the parlor, while Vastra and Jenny are working to sort out a few things.
Relationships: Jenny Flint/Madame Vastra
Series: The Dawn of Time [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/146766
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	Sorted Out

Madame Vastra stayed in bed until suppertime and Jenny did not disturb her. The Silurian woman was remarkable self-sufficient, for an upper-class lady, and Jenny had made sure there was plenty of wood stacked beside every fire, when she needed it.

Just after breakfast, two men from the gas company had arrived, bearing very large toolboxes, and Jenny could hear the racket of their working even in the kitchen. She stayed close to the warm kitchen hearth, preparing a hearty lamb stew for that night. The workmen left just as it was finishing and Jenny could immediately feel the rise in temperature as she went into the hallway, intending to ask Madame Vastra if she wanted to have her supper in bed, the way she had with breakfast.

The lady was ahead of her, already fully dressed, coming down the stairs as Jenny left the kitchen.

“I was just on my way to wake you, miss,” said Jenny, smiling at the healthy green color of her employer’s face. “Are you feeling better?”

Madame Vastra smiled back. “Much better, thanks to you,” she said, then hesitated. “And, I believe, I may need to apologize.”

“For what, miss?”

Her smile returned. “For worrying you, certainly, Jenny, my dear. But, also, perhaps, for kissing you.”

Jenny felt herself flush pink. “Oh.”

“Not that I did not think it pleasurable,” Madame Vastra assured her, “however brief. But your species has a remarkable number of social taboos about interpersonal encounters, especially ones involving women. I did not at all wish to make you uncomfortable.”

“Oh, no, miss, you didn’t,” said Jenny. She paused, then added, “I rather enjoyed it.”

“Really?” said Madame Vastra, with a different sort of smile. “Well, my dear, you are extremely open-minded for a human.”

“Thank you, miss.”

“It is still I who should thank you, Jenny,” the other woman replied. “Especially if that is indeed lamb stew I smell.”

“Yes, miss,” said her maid. “I was just coming to tell you it was ready.”

“Excellent.”

And for the first time since Madame Vastra had insisted that Jenny should dine with her, instead of them each eating alone, the human woman felt comfortable as she settled into her place at the table.

*

The front hallway was empty when Jenny crossed it to water the plants in the parlor, but when she returned, there was a large wooden box there.

At that moment, Madame Vastra came in from the other direction and scowled at the box. “Oh, that man.”

“Miss?”

Her employer didn’t answer – instead, she strode forward and knocked on the door of the box.

“Just a moment!” called a voice from inside, which continued as the door opened, “Just recharging a bit, so sorry for just dropping – Vastra!”

The man appeared to be about Jenny’s age, wearing a short tweed jacket and a red bow tie. Madame Vastra regarded him with a level expression. “Doctor, is there a reason you have parked your TARDIS in the middle of my front hallway.”

“Have I?” he asked, taking a step forward to look around him. “So I have. Well, I’ll be out of your hair in a jiff and— Oh, who’s this?”

“This is my maid, Miss Jenny Flint,” said Madame Vastra. “Jenny, this is the Doctor.”

Jenny knew the name – after a few months working for her, Madame Vastra had told her more about the Silurians and how she, specifically, had come to be in London. The Doctor was the reason her employer was here, in this house, assisting the police when she had woken as the only one of her kind, angry at the apes who had taken over her world.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, sir,” Jenny said, and bobbed into a curtsy.

“Been a while since I was curtsied to,” said the Doctor, bobbing much less gracefully and nearly toppling over. “Charmed, I’m sure.”

“Doctor,” said Madame Vastra, somewhat firmly. “Why are you here?”

“Ah,” he said. “Yes, that. Not that I don’t enjoy surprise visits to my old friends, but if we’re being honest, I didn’t actually mean to come here. I meant very emphatically not to be where I was, you see, and here is very much not there – so here I am!”

“I see,” said Madame Vastra, with the tiny almost-smile that meant she was genuinely amused. “And will you be staying… here?”

“Ah,” the Doctor said again, just as a crash sounded from behind him, inside the blue box. “If it’s no imposition?”

“Not at all,” the Silurian assured him. “Jenny, we shall have a guest for tea. You are alone, are you not, Doctor?”

“Just me and the old girl,” he said, stroking the side of his TARDIS affectionately. “But she doesn’t drink tea.”

“Three of us, then,” said Madame Vastra.

“And biscuits,” the Doctor added. “Can’t have proper tea without biscuits. Any chance of Jammy Dodgers?”

“Of what?” asked Jenny.

“No, they haven’t been invented yet,” he said. “No matter, I’ll bring my own. Give a knock when the tea’s ready.”

And with that, the blue door closed. 

There was a pause, then Jenny said, “Should I make the tea now, miss?”

“Yes, I think that would be for the best.”

*

The TARDIS had been moved from the entrance hall to the back garden, but after that the Doctor showed no signs of moving it.

“He seems… alone,” said Jenny, after the third night. “Does he always travel by himself?”

“No,” replied Madame Vastra, thoughtfully. “He has had several traveling companions. But they are humans, my dear, as you are, and a time lord lives so much longer.”

“How sad.” Jenny glanced out the window at the TARDIS, where their guest had retreated again. “No one should be alone.”

“No indeed,” said Vastra. She paused, then said abruptly, “Jenny, may we speak honestly?”

The maid blinked. “I would never lie to you, miss.”

“No, of course you would not,” said Madame Vastra. “What I mean is, I wish to speak with you, not as employer and employee, but as two equals. Do you understand?”

“Yes, miss. I mean – yes.”

“Good. And you must also understand that our conversation will not affect your place here. Your work has been remarkable, and I have come to reply upon your greatly.”

“Thank you, miss.” She blinked, then smiled. “Sorry, it’s habit.”

Madame Vastra smiled back. “I quite understand. Perhaps you can begin by simply saying my name.”

Jenny smiled again. “Yes, Vastra.”

“Yes, that’s very good,” the other woman said. “I have been hesitant to bring this up, Jenny, because of the strange social mores I have observed in humans. But you are a unique example of your species, my dear, and I fear I cannot resist.”

“Resist what?” asked Jenny, baffled.

“You,” said Vastra. “When I hired you, I had merely hoped to find a maid who would not be horrified by my appearance. But you are so, so much more.”

Jenny took a deep breath. “I keep thinking about our kiss.”

“If I recall correctly,” Vastra said, softly, “it was I who kissed you, quite unexpectedly. I would understand if you were upset.”

“I was surprised,” said Jenny. “What I keep thinking is that I should have kissed you back.”

“Indeed?” asked Vastra.

Once, Jenny had found that green-scaled face utterly alien, but now she could read every bit of hope and doubt and desire written there.

“I…” she said, then admitted, “I was raised to think this was wrong. Two women, who love each other that way. But it would also have called you a monster or a devil or worse, and I know what a kind and generous person you are. Surely, when two souls care about each other, that can’t be wrong.”

“Oh, Jenny.” Vastra reached for her hand, cool scales against warm skin as she laced their fingers together. “If I believed in your superstitious religion, I would ask what I had done to deserve you.”

“Then you do care for me?” asked Jenny.

Vastra raised their joined hands to press a kiss to the human woman’s knuckles. “A very great deal, I assure you.”

“And what does that mean for us?” Jenny asked, trying to collect her thoughts even as she could feel that kiss tingle down to her toes. “I _am_ still your maid.”

“I would like us to be equals,” said Vastra. “But I understand that it would be difficult. Are you willing to try, my dear?”

Jenny repeated the gesture, kissing her knuckles. “Very much so, Vastra.”

The other woman’s grin was blinding, teeth white in her green complexion, then she leaned in to kiss Jenny properly, pulling their bodies flush. This time, Jenny responded enthusiastically, trying to convey her own feelings through the kiss.

It would be difficult for them, she was sure – Vastra was still her employer, still a lizard woman from the dawn of time, but Jenny could not imagine a life without her anymore, and at the moment, that seemed far more important.

There was a sudden crash and the two women sprang apart, startled to see a very chagrined Doctor standing next to an upturned potted plant.

“Sorry!” he said. “Sorry! I was just coming to find you. Which I have done, obviously. But I’ve interrupted _and_ I’ve made a mess. Terribly sorry.”

Vastra smiled, trailing her hand – which had somehow ended up in Jenny’s hair – down the human woman’s arm. “That’s all right, Doctor. Jenny and I shall have plenty of time for… discussions, later.”

Jenny felt herself blush, but tangled their fingers together. “Did you need something, Doctor?” she asked.

“Only to thank you for all the tea,” he said. “Before I go.”

“Then you found what you came for?” Vastra asked.

The Doctor smiled. “We shall see.”

“Well,” said Vastra. “Please know that you are always welcome here, and that you can always call on us if ever you need us.”

“Thank you,” he said, sincerely. “I’ll leave you to your – why is it always kissing? – Oh, I should clean this up before—”

The Doctor tried to pick up the spilled pot, and only succeeded in spilling more dirt all over the floor. 

“Please don’t!” said Vastra and Jenny together.

“Ah,” he said. “Right. Well. I’m glad you two sorted yourselves out. All that flirting was starting to be uncomfortable.”

Vastra’s lips twitched, in an expression Jenny knew meant she was very amused but determined not to show it.

“Safe journey, Doctor,” she said, pointedly.

He gave an awkward wave, and left.

Jenny looked around at the mess he’d made. “I’ll get the broom,” she said.

“I’ll help you, my dear,” said Vastra, and Jenny pulled her in for a quick delighted kiss.

THE END


End file.
